Hydrogenthyratrons are widely used in scientific research, military, medical treatment and industry such fields, which include laser instruments, radar, pulse modulator, medical beeline accelerator, tommy bar protection and other electric instruments and equipments.

Operation process of hydrogenthyratron is a process which gas changes into high conductive state from isolated high voltage state, transforms the storage energy during pulse time into strong power pulse output at the moment of the pulse.

Structure of the grounded grid thyratron is the same as hydrogenthyratron, including cathode, anode and grid etc. Grid is used as discharge cathode in the grounded grid thyratron, so the grid is made of a special material of metal.

A multi-gap thyratron arrangement comprising a thyratron having at least one gradient-grid pair consisting of two adjacent electrodes between the cathode and anode of said thyratron and means for constantly biassing that electrode of said gradient-grid pair which is nearer the anode negatively with respect to the other electrode of said gradient-grid pair.

A multi-gap thyratron arrangement as defined in claim 12 wherein said rectifier means comprises a first pair of diodes connected in series and poled identically across said rails, said charge forming device comprising a capacitor connected in series between said diodes and forming respectively therewith said first and second junctions.

A multi-gap thyratron arrangement as defined in claim 14 wherein said rectifier means further comprises a first capacitor connected in series between said bridge circuit and said anode rail and a second capacitor connected in series between said bridge circuit and said cathode rail.

Thyratrons evolved in the 1920s from early vacuum tubes such as the UV-200, which contained a small amount of argon gas to increase its sensitivity as a radio signal detector; and the German LRS Relay tube, which also contained argon gas.

The gas in a thyratron is typically at a fraction of the pressure of air at sea level; 15 to 30 millibars (1.5 to 3 kPa) is typical.

Thyratrons are also used in high-power UHF television transmitters, to protect inductive output tubes from internal shorts, by grounding the incoming high-voltage supply during the time it takes for a circuit breaker to open and reactive components to drain their stored charges.

Thyratrons generally fall into two classes, depending on whether their housings are made of glass or ceramic material.

The housings of ceramic thyratrons are typically made from at least two separate ceramic elements, i.e., an upper element between the anode and the control electrode and a lower element between the control electrode and the cathode.

Because a portion of the control electrode of a traditional ceramic thyratron is exposed to the air at a location between the anode and the cathode, there is a possibility of arcing from the control electrode to the anode.

I can't comment immediately on the characteristics of this particular thyratron (CX2607), as EEV doesn't list all their offerings on their web site any more, and my old printout of their site is eluding me. At any rate, $70 for one of the big boys would be a steal.

Also, the grid structure on triodethyratrons coasts up to a good fraction of the plate potential for about 50 nsec during the time the tube is turning on.

Thyratrons are by nature unipolar devices, and do not like reverse current, as it tends to cause arcs to the plate, which eat holes and deposit metal on the walls of the tube, deteriorating the holdoff capability.

Thyratrons, including glass types, are of robust design and construction and many types are used under arduous conditions experienced by military radars in aircraft, missiles, vehicles and naval guns.

Thyratrons with adjustable reservoir systems should be operated at the recommended reservoir voltage supplied with the tube.

Thyratrons with independent reservoir voltage control should not be set below recommended levels to shorten recovery time and achieve fault-free operation since low gas pressure will shorten the life of the thyratron.

A low voltage power source is connected to heat the thyratron 22, and a high voltage direct current power source was connected to the thyratron 22 with an average available input power to support an operation of the thyratron 22 at a 100 Hertz repetition rate.

The thyratron 22 is connected to the middle conductor 36 of the Blumlein device 32 to precharge the Blumlein to a positively high voltage and then fired to commutate the input power.

The thyratron 22 was connected to a DC input power source, precharged the middle conductor 36 to 25 KV, and operated at 100 Hertz repetition rate.

They are also found in high-power UHF televsion transmitters, where they are used to protect inductive output tubes from internal shorts, by grounding the incoming high-voltage supply during the time it takes for a circuit breaker to open and reactive components to drain their stored charges.

Thyratrons have been replaced in most low and medium-power applications by corresponding semiconductor devices known as Thyristors (previously called Silicon Controlled Rectifiers, or SCRs) and Triacs.

The various components of Colossus were the optical reader system, the master control panel, the thyratron rings and their driver circuits, the optical data staticisors and delta calculators, the shift registers, the logic gates, the counters and their control circuits, the span counters, the relay buffer store and printer logic.

The second diode is used as a limiter to dampen strong peaks, which might cause the thyratron tube to continue firing over too long a period.

If both grid and plate voltages are taken from the same a-c source their phase difference could be arranged so that the grid would permit current flow during the entire half cycle in which the plate is positive with respect to the cathode, so that no plate current would flow, or somewhere between these limits.

When the thyratron lights, the holding relay closes and the stepping relay pushes a ratchet as many times as the pulses sent out by the pulser in the control box.

The network is discharged rapidly through a pulse transformer by the thyratron keyer tube to develop an output pulse, The shape and duration of the pulse are determined by the electrical characteristics of the pulse-forming network and of the pulse transformer.

The thyratron requires a sharp leading edge for a trigger pulse and depends on a sudden drop in anodevoltage (controlled by the pulse- forming network) to terminate the pulse and cut off the tube.

When a positive trigger pulse is applied to the grid of the thyratron, the tube ionizes causing the pulse-forming network to discharge through the thyratron and the primary of the pulse transformer.

It is thus the object of the invention to provide a control circuit for controlling the thyratron in the conventional laser pulse discharge circuit, thereby preventing the occurrence of latch-ups.

A particularly simple circuit is obtained by detecting the voltage across the primary coil by means of a capacitive pick-up which forms a small capacity to the primary coil.

The control circuit for giving off trigger pulses to the thyratron according to the invention comprises a capacitive pick-up PU, an amplifier/discriminator circuit connected to a synchronizing unit with input for an external trigger input signal and a trigger pulse circuit for giving off trigger pulses to the control terminal of the thyratron.

Xor Thyratron was a distributed entity, who used several specialised crab-like robot bodies at any one time; eir specialisation in mineralogy and wide range of detection equipment led em to develop a novel aesthetic sensitivity.

A new (tweaked) clade of humanity was developed for this high gee world; a metre tall and the same broad, they became known as Kobolds to the rest of the Terragen sphere; despite their short stature, they were strong and hardy and capable of great feats of strength in Earth-like gravity regimes.

Thyratron was forced to act, and expelled eh-Nah and his jeweller warriors from the world of Sisyphos; as the crabvecs maintained their artificial environment the rebels had no choice but to depart.

www.orionsarm.com /worlds/Sisyphos.html (941 words)

Thyratron Tubes(Site not responding. Last check: )

In essence thyratron tubes of were controlled versions of neon lamps built specifically for switching a lmost zero volts.

A thyratron valve will strike and hold an internal arc discharge when there is a positive voltage on its anode and the grid voltage is raised towards the cathodevoltage allowing current to start flowing.

Unfortunately the only way to stop the discharge in a thyratron is to drive the anode negative with respect to its cathode.

In the decade thyratron ring the thyratron which had been struck had to prepare the next thyratron in the ring to be struck on the next input pulse, but at the same time the next thyratron struck had to cause the pervious thyratron to be extinguished.